Invictus
by mous1elousi3
Summary: AU: On an alien planet, the quest for precious reishi makes monsters and gods of men and women alike.


_**A/N: Goodness gracious me! Do you know how long I've been writing this one story? Feels like forever and it probably was, because I may have started this story a year ago. I don't think it's finished yet either, because I just keep tweaking the sections. Inspiration is**_ **Pacific Rim** _ **,**_ **Teknoman** _ **, and to some extent,**_ **Dune** _ **. Poem is "Invictus" by William E Henley, which has become a favourite of mine because it is four verses of badassery and awesome.**_

 _ **Further, this month is going to be terrible for my fanfiction writing so brace yourself, updates are going to be sporadic at best.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Not mine, borrowing for a bit.**_

" **Invictus"**

 **0o0**

 _Under the night that covers me,_

 _Black as the pit from pole to pole,_

 _I thank whatever gods may be,_

 _For my unconquerable soul._

 **0o0**

The sweeper team from Sixth Squad had disappeared somewhere in the Twenty-First District half an hour into a trip that was supposed to take them out to the Sixty-First. One moment they were there, joking about how many Hollows they were going bag to a man and the next they were not. An alarm had been sent up around Headquarters. Hollows were not supposed to get past the Sixtieth or all would be lost. Haineko and Kazeshini were immediately booted up and prepared for a rescue mission.

Rangiku, in the torso of her suit, kept her eyes closed, waiting for the moment when Haineko's cybernetic brain connected with her real one.

"Okay, Matsumoto-san, Hisagi-san, uploading connections…and you are go."

Behind her closed lids, a readout of Haineko's system status appeared. This showed everything from how much fuel she had left to her slightly elevated blood pressure, followed by weapons check, which was given the all clear and finally GPS and radar maps unfolded. Above her was the flying city of Seireitei, a fortress in the sky, the only place the Hollows could not reach them. Below spread the vast swaths of the planet's surface where the last, unlucky vestiges of humanity struggled to survive in the Eighty Districts amidst free-range Hollows after the Sixtieth. Beyond that—her jaw clenched—the scorched earth of Hueco Mundo where the creatures had first appeared and the Hollows were born.

She had not yet been born when they emerged from beneath the surface to devastate the world, but she had lived in the Sixty-Fifth District before it was overrun. If the Hollows had gotten past the Sixty-First District…

A list followed this, showing the last known coordinates down to the minute where the Squad Six team had been, and the names of the missing. Even though she knew and had been expecting it, her heart still leapt in her throat as she read one name in particular. In her stomach was an unwelcome, answering flutter.

" _Unit One, Squad Six: Senbonzakura. Pilot: Commander Kuchiki Byakuya."_

"You okay there, Matsumoto-san?" asked Shuuhei. His voice was loud and clear over the comm., once they were soaring over the districts away from Seireitei it would get increasingly scratchy. Multi-millionaire dollar tech and they still had shitty communications.

Her heart rate had spiked a little and there was that worrying blood pressure reading. She swallowed a mouthful of air, suppressing the rising wave of nausea and replied, "Yea, just fine."

Shuuhei did not know, not yet. No one did, not even Byakuya.

" _Launch in T-minus ten, nine, eight…"_

Rangiku closed her eyes again, took a deep breath and waited. As one, the tethers keeping the zanpakuto suspended beneath the massive hull of the Seireitei disengaged and she in Haineko and Hisagi in Kazeshini freefell to the surface. They were at terminal velocity in a matter of seconds and Rangiku spread her arms to absorb the feeling of weightlessness. For a moment it was as if she was floating in mid-air, flying free as a bird…back when there were birds. And then the tinny voice in her ear, _"Engaging thrusters. Coordinates set."_

The explosion of reishi into thrust momentarily pressed Rangiku against her restraints until she relaxed against them, opened her eyes again and called to Hisagi. "Let's go."

Byakuya had better the hell be alive and well and in one piece when she got there or she was going to resurrect him just to tear him apart again.

 **ooo**

He had saved her life, and as far as first meetings went, theirs could have been better. It was an escort mission for some member of the Royal Family, not high enough in the ranks to receive a multiple squad escort but just enough that they were getting a Lieutenant Commander. Her young commander had been greatly annoyed to receive the orders—what the hell was this Royal Family member doing out in the Districts anyway?—and so had passed it off to her.

It was not supposed to be and had not been a particularly dangerous mission, at least not initially. With six fighters in v-formation behind her, they had flown out to the Sixty-Seventh District, collected their drunken lout of a package and turned back. And that was when the Hollow attacked.

One moment, Rangiku had been scrolling through a fashion magazine, pondering whether her captain would flip out over a rather risqué dress she had her eye on while Haineko's systems did the scanning for her, and the next there was a klaxon going off in her head. She was so startled she nearly fell out of the sky, but then she was up again, weapons out and ready to fire.

Trying her best to sound calm and convey urgency at the same time, she called Headquarters. "This is Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto Rangiku of Squad Ten. I am in the Sixty-Second District on a Royal Escort. We are under attack. I repeat: _we are under attack!_ "

Hollows…were human once, back before the alien creatures that had lain dormant under this planet's surface for centuries were rudely awakened by the drilling operations for precious reishi above. They brought with them a virus of some kind in their venom, one spit and the human DNA mutated and in a matter of days they became monstrous amalgamations of people and animals alike. The people in research had spent years trying to reverse the process and had yet to produce something that was not an unrecognisable mass of flesh.

As a child, Rangiku had often peeked through the floorboards of her family's tree-house to the watch the Hollows as they swarmed below, calling for blood and flesh. But she had had to keep still. The Hollows may not have been able to climb but they could leap and if they scented her they would be through the floors in an instant. That memory would come rushing back to her in an instant when a second Hollow launched itself into the air and grasped hold of one of Haineko's legs.

Rangiku had tried to save herself. She ran through an entire chain of ammo from her left shoulder-mounted rail gun, then three missiles from her right of which only one connected…with the first Hollow. The second Hollow began climbing higher, having caught the scent of her flesh in the torso of her suit. When she looked around, three of the escort had hurried away with the Royal Family ship while the others took turns tearing through the Hollow's flesh. If she fell, those men and women would die and it would be her fault as Lieutenant Commander. She drew her plasma sword from her suit's back compartment.

All the zanpakuto were fitted with a plasma weapon, in her case a sword that released tiny plasma fletchettes that stuck to and tore apart whatever they landed on. She punched the Hollow in its multiple-headed face with one hand and released a volley of the flechettes with the other. Most of them stuck and she released the charge. The fletchettes lit up at once, lightning arcing between the little spikes before tearing through the Hollow on a path to the ground. Safe within her insulated suit, Rangiku watched as the Hollow struggled to keep its grip on her while being electrocuted before finally, with an anguished cry, burnt black and smoking, it fell away. She did not stick around to watch it go but immediately flew off to save her squad from the first Hollow.

The fighters had done quite well while their lieutenant commander was distracted, but they were down one craft and she hoped for its pilot's sake that he had died when the ship exploded. When they saw her coming, the two remaining fighters flew off in opposite directions giving her a clear shot. She did not hesitate, she loaded a plasma missile into her shoulder cannon and aimed…and that was when she saw the human settlement.

Of course, _of course_ the Hollows would not have randomly attacked. There was a settlement below that they had been raiding and though a few of the tree houses were now flat, their fallen trees exposing the others to the air, it was clear that the inhabitants had not yet fled. Rangiku groaned, withdrew the cannon and went after the Hollow with her sword.

She screamed into her comm. as she went, "I'm going to need some backup here! There are settlers below! I repeat: there are settlers down there!"

The Hollow side-stepped her first blow and swatted away at her with an arm. She only just dodged, braking with her thrusters to stop herself from tumbling down into the settlement. She was close enough that she could hear the people within screaming and wondered why the hell they had not yet taken off. Fat lot of good it had done her family anyway.

She shot off for a second attempt, charging the plasma along the edge of her sword to sharpen it. This time the Hollow did not dodge but raised an arm to block and got it lopped off for its trouble. She made another slash to its head, but it got her with the other arm and she was sent tumbling along the tree tops, shearing off the tallest branches as she went. Again she braked with the thrusters, righted herself and raced for the Hollow. Halfway there she came to a sudden stop that crushed her against her restraints and when she checked her cameras, it was to find that she had been caught by a third Hollow. Worse, her sensors picked up two more, closing in fast.

And then the sky filled with plasma.

Later she would learn that Byakuya and his Lieutenant Commander, Abarai Renji, had been in the area on routine business, heard her distress call and immediately set off to aid her. They passed the Royal on their way in too, his escort threatening the sound barrier in their haste to get back to the Seireitei. Renji joined the fighters trying to stop the first Hollow, armless but deadly still, and Byakuya came to Rangiku's aid.

Trusting Rangiku's suit's insulation to save her, Byakuya released his plasma weapon on the Hollows trying to tear her suit apart. She saw the sky light up briefly and a moment later, the Hollows exploded as blades tore through them like grenades.

Rangiku was so stunned that she almost fell through the treetops before Byakuya could stop her with a hook and say, "Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto, what is your status?"

Her heart was racing, her breathing was short and laboured and she was damn near about to pee herself, but Rangiku praised herself for maintaining a calm voice as she replied, "Alive and well, thanks a lot Commander."

He waited until she regained her bearings and righted herself, before saying, "There is an escort to complete."

His rescue earned them all medals, including two for her fallen subordinates, and that was when she learned his name and just who exactly he was. Kuchiki Byakuya, commander of Squad Six and head of an old, aristocratic family, one of the First Families of the original colony. He was unexpectedly young and quite handsome, her eyes had gone wide when they made it back to the Seireitei and she stumbled out of Haineko to go thank her rescuer. But before she could get the words out he had rebuffed her, scolding the moment he laid eyes on her, "Next time do not leave your charge. You complete the escort and then get a squad to the clean-up."

Her mouth fell open and she pulled up short, but a moment later she narrowed her eyes, glaring at him and snapped, "Was I just supposed to leave them to die to save that fat bastard?"

His expression was stone, his eyes cold, and he replied, "That is your duty. Those people out there are none of your concern."

She was trembling with fury as she snarled, "How dare you! Our duty is to protect the people of this planet from the Hollows wherever that might be! I was one of _those people_!"

His expression did not change, instead he said, "Not anymore."

 **0o0**

 _In the fell clutch of circumstance,_

 _I have not winced, nor cried aloud._

 _Under the bludgeonings of chance,_

 _My head is bloody, but unbow'd._

 **0o0**

Rangiku and Hisagi had made quick work of the first few districts, scanners up searching for any sign that the Hollows were any closer. The districts were separated from each other by a series of high walls; complete with gates and guards which became progressively lower and thinner the further they got from the Seireitei. There was nothing though, the only signs of life were human and a handful of animals…not that one really could consider Hollows "alive" anymore.

Rangiku pulled up the communication record of the Sixth Squad group.

" _Hey Rikichi,"_ —that was Renji— _"how does it feel to be on your first patrol?"_

" _Oh, it's really exciting, Lieutenant Commander Abarai! Do you think we're going to get any action in?"_

" _Himura Rikichi,"_ —her heart skipped a beat, that was Byakuya's voice— _"do you dream of death?"_

" _Commander Kuchiki! No sir, I do not sir!"_

" _Then 'action' is the last thing you want to see today."_

" _Aww Commander, go a little easy on him, it's his first day out. I—hold on, what the hell?"_

" _Three Hol—no…it's just one…what the hell?"_ Wait, _one_?

" _Lieutenant Commander Abarai, ge—"_

The transmission cut off abruptly into static and Rangiku found herself wanting to cry out, to scream Byakuya's name and beg him to fly away. She stopped herself though, when she felt the flutter again. When the fluttering, well _movement_ rather had begun the week before Rangiku had at first mistaken it for indigestion, remembering the combination of ice cream and spiced fruit that she had had for breakfast that morning. It took her a moment to realise that it was the child, not yet visible under her uniform though it was tighter now at the waist. She imagined that it was as distressed as she that it may have just lost one parent.

Then Hisagi's voice cut across the static, "Rangiku, we're approaching the site but…you have to see this…"

She snapped out of her daze, took a breath and asked, "Come again?"

Hisagi sounded panicked, frantic. "There's nothing…it's all gone…have you ever…"

She looked up at her screens…and her breathing stopped.

Hueco Mundo was a place that no one was allowed to go. There was nothing there, absolutely nothing, not anymore. It was a desert, a wasteland where the sun bleached the bones of all those who had died in the first wave of the Hollow invasion. And now, somehow or the other right under the ever-watchful eyes of the Seireitei, Hollows had transformed Districts Fifty-Nine to Sixty-One into a miniature replica. The earth below was bare, scorched, black and skeletal. Bones, animal and plant alike, lay scattered about the land. There were dry riverbeds and vast, hollow craters that used to be lakes. And yet, absurdly, it was lined by trees, the borders of Districts Sixty-Two and Fifty-Eight, clearly demarcated evergreen.

"What the hell?" someone said over Rangiku's comm. She was wondering just that. What had done this? And how? When?

"I'm sending reinforcements," said someone else, the gruff tone indicating Commander Mugurama Kensei, Hisagi's superior.

"Let's split up," said Rangiku, already veering right, map of what the area used to look like up and running while her scanners searched desperately for any sign of Squad Six.

"Actually, let's stick together," said Hisagi on her left. "I'm not picking up anything. Where the hell are they? Not even wreckage."

Panic rising with her heartbeat, Rangiku said, "Maybe they're still fighting."

"Seireitei hasn't picked up any activity," said Hisagi.

"Maybe their suits are damaged but they're still fighting. We've got to find them," said Rangiku.

There was a pause and then, "Rangiku, are you alright?"

Rangiku glanced at her health monitors and took a few deep, calming breaths. It was a wonder that Haineko's scanners had not picked up the second heartbeat racing just under hers. She had spent nearly an hour just listening to it that first day in Commander Unohana's office, simultaneously in awe of and terrified by the sound. When it had settled enough to take the red warning light off the screen, Rangiku said, "Sure. Just…it's nothing. I'm fine."

Hisagi did not sound convinced as he replied, "Okay. Because I see something up ahead."

"Let's go," said Rangiku.

 **ooo**

They were gods, the protectors of the Seireitei who the people called "shinigami" for the way they staved off the deaths of millions, and they were practically worshipped as such.

Kuchiki Byakuya's family was one of the oldest and most prominent, being one of the first to take advantage of the development of reishi, and he, their young, handsome leader, was as a rock star for the women of the Seireitei. It did not hurt that he was not married, though there were rumours that he had been once and that his wife had been made to disappear for being unsuitable. He had a sister in the squads, Rukia, though she was never seen out in the Rukongai and had been recently sent off-world. He was wealthy, enough that he did not need to work a day in his life and yet he was a shinigami, risking his life and his family's fortunes each time his suit launched from the belly of the Seireitei. All of this Rangiku had learned in a quick search the moment she was debriefed and released to her quarters. That explained the arrogance and the audacity to act as if other people did not matter once they did not live in the Seireitei.

From her friend, Ise Nanao in Administration, she would also find out that he _had_ in fact once had a wife, though she had died, and that she came from the Districts. Hisana had come from much further out, in an area long overrun though there were still pockets of human inhabitation and many rumours of hybrids and other abominations abounded. And yet her widowed husband acted like other people like her did not matter.

It would be nearly a month before Rangiku ran into Byakuya again. Nightmares from her childhood and the night her family was destroyed had made for a restless night and Rangiku decided to work it off in the gym.

His hair in a high ponytail and wearing nothing but a pair of pants, his skin gleaming with sweat, Byakuya was halfway through a judo routine when she walked into the gym. She froze immediately, stunned.

There was no one else around, and barely anyone else awake but he looked alert, steady, and not at all tired. He had looked relatively slim in his flight suit but out of uniform there was definite muscle along his arms, chest, back and legs. Rangiku could have stood in the doorway and watched him practice for the rest of the night, but when the door shut behind her he had stopped and looked up.

Caught, she greeted him with a grin and said, "Commander."

"Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto," he said. "What are you doing here?"

It took her a moment to remember, being distracted and all by a bead of sweat tracing a line down his perfectly formed abs. But then his brow had furrowed and she snapped out of her daze and sputtered, "Ab— _gym_. Morning workout, you know the usual. Have to fit into a dress too…why are you here?"

He just stared back at her, until she began to wonder if maybe she had offended him somehow and oh, they were not going to be good friends if he kept that up, and then he said, "I was…unable to sleep."

Oh, good answer, why did she not just say that? Aloud, she said, "Well, me too…I have the dress out in my room and it was just taunting me that it was not going to fit and look awful so I had to get up…" She stopped when she realised that she was babbling, took a breath and said, "Not meaning to be rude or anything, but don't you have a home gym? I mean, isn't your family rich?"

She walked down into the room and headed over to the treadmill. He made to return to his workout but said first, "I needed a change of scenery. Is my presence here bothering you, Lieutenant Commander?"

"My name is Rangiku and no, it does not. It's not my gym," she replied. "I was just curious."

And then he said, "I know of you." She paused, brows furrowing and he stopped moving again to look at her as he replied, "I was told that you were Ichimaru Gin's woman."

It was such an odd way to phrase it, "Ichimaru Gin's woman" as if she were a possession, an object that he had kept and, when it suited him, discarded in pursuit of something new. But, she supposed, in a way she had been "his woman", for she had loved him from the first day she met him and he had given her no indication that she should not have. No, of course not, until it was far too late and he was disappearing off on the path to martyrdom.

The sight of Shinsou, broken and scattered across the sands of Hueco Mundo still haunted her nightmares.

To Byakuya she said, "We were friends for a very long time. I don't suppose that makes me anymore his woman than any other in a similar situation." Then a pause and she added, smiling, "I should be flattered. The higher ups have been talking about me?"

Byakuya turned away from her smile and replied, "You made quite an impression."

"On who?" Rangiku asked, only mildly curious.

There was a long silence, so that Rangiku gave up on an answer and started running and then he said, "His Highness…the Royal you were escorting. We were at the same event recently and he asked after you. It was there that the story of your relationship with Ichimaru Gin was repeated, and there, later, that he asked me to arrange an introduction."

Rangiku stepped down awkwardly on one foot and nearly smashed her face into the treadmill's console, only saving herself at the last minute by grabbing hold of the handlebars. Then, eyes wide at his still turned back, she asked, "W-what?"

Finally, Byakuya turned to her again and said, "Matsumoto Rangiku, His Highness Prince Norihito of the Imperial Court formally requests your presence for tea tomorrow at the residence of family friends, the Great Noble House of Kuchiki."

Her eyes went wider and her mouth fell open but Byakuya just stared at her, until finally she remembered her manners and said, "Um…what?"

Byakuya did not sigh. He turned his back again and began stretching which was completely unfair because Rangiku could not help admiring the ripple of muscle below his skin along the length of his body, and then he said, "Later today, around four. Do not be late. A note will be sent to your captain."

At this, Rangiku said, "Wait, wait…is it that lout? No way in hell I'm going. I know his type. Act all proper in public and then go whoring in the Districts with women who most often aren't whores but are too afraid to do anything to stop him. You better report me to my captain now and save us both the trouble."

Byakuya stopped and went for his towel, then dried his face before asking, "You would risk the wrath of the Royal Family?"

"I don't care. I worked hard to get where I am in this place and I'm not going to let him ruin it for me when I kick him in the balls for getting handsy. I took this job because there are people out there who need to be protected. I don't have time to play nice with some slob who is only 'better than me' because he was born lucky!" Rangiku snapped.

Byakuya turned to her with slightly widened eyes and, after a moment, a hint of a smile on his face. Still his voice was even as he said, "Life in the Seireitei is very political. It is in your best interest to go and 'play nice'. Besides, I'm sure a little sleeping draught in his tea won't do him any harm. He looks very tired. I heard that he has not slept a wink since the incident."

Rangiku's mouth fell open again and then she grinned.

The next day at tea, midway through praising Rangiku for her beauty, though really it was all about her very generous bosom, the prince, some third son of some third or fourth son of a duke, nodded off to a deep sleep. Rangiku waited exactly five minutes to make sure that he was asleep and not dying and then slipped out of the room, took a left, a right, a long walk forward and another right and slipped into Byakuya's study. He was waiting for her in a full riding suit and tossed her a jacket and helmet as she came in the door. She smiled and let him lead her out of the house.

 **0o0**

 _Beyond this place of wrath and tears,_

 _Looms but the horror of the shade_

 _And yet the menace of the years,_

 _Finds and shall find me unafraid._

 **0o0**

There was a sudden crackle of static and then: _"Commander Kuchiki? Lieutenant Commander Abarai, can you hear me?"_

Rangiku groaned at the noise, her head pounding. Odd though, the caller from Headquarters sounded like Commander Unohana. But then, _"This is Lieutenant Commander Abarai, come in Commander Unohana."_

Rangiku felt her heart leap. They were alive!

" _Lieutenant Commander Abarai, is Commander Kuchiki with you?"_

A pause and then, somewhat weakly, _"I am here, Commander Unohana. What is the matter? Has something happened to my sister?"_ Rangiku squeezed her hands into fists and exhaled a painful, relived sigh. He was alive, gods above, he was alive. And as if in commiseration with her sentiment, their child shifted again. It had survived then too, thank goodness.

" _No, Commander. Lieutenant Commander Kuchiki is well; this is actually about Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto."_

Rangiku groaned, for a different reason this time. Then Byakuya asked, considerably more alert, _"What is it?"_

" _She's pregnant."_

A brief pause and then, _"Where is she?"_

" _Her last coordinates were about twenty klicks to the southeast of your current location. She and Lieutenant Commander Hisagi got separated and he cannot find her. We are getting a weak signal from Haineko and her flight-suit that suggests she's still alive but—"_

" _Nevermind then. Someone get me in contact with my steward at the Kuchiki estate."_

" _Commander Kuchiki?"_

" _I can only assume that the reason you are telling me this is because the child is mine and not His Royal Highness'. It is possible that you are also telling me this because you cannot split your resources at the moment to recover both myself and the Lieutenant Commander. Get me onto my steward and someone will retrieve Haineko itself later, but right now we have to get Rangiku out of here."_

" _Yes, Commander. Thank you, Commander."_

" _One question, Commander Unohana, how is she out here? Did she not inform Commander Hitsugaya of her situation?"_

A new voice this time, Toshiro's and he sounded furious as he said, _"No, she did not. She had submitted a leave application but she…I don't know what she was thinking."_

" _It does not matter. Thank you for informing me, Commander Unohana, Commander Hitsugaya."_

The Hollow that had separated her from Hisagi had appeared out of nowhere, as if it had teleported, crashing into her suit with enough force to knock her off balance and then there was a moment of unbelievable pressure and the next thing she knew, she was standing alone in the middle of the desert. The creature gave her no time to gather her bearings but charged her again, slamming her into the desert sands and pinning her there until she managed to get her thrusters going and shoved it away. Then she was up with a jump and shooting through the sky heading south. But Haineko must have gotten a harder blow than she thought because for some reason it was telling her that she was in Hueco Mundo.

She did not believe it until she saw the suit. Despite the shifting dunes, there was Shinsou's massive torso sticking out of the sand like a statue of Ozymandias. She was landing before she realised it, then scrambling across the sand towards it as if it had just crashed and Gin was reaching for her. The Hollow knocked her out of her daze when it tackled her and flung her across the sand.

It was then that she decided to call Hisagi. Launching herself into the air again, but this time heading inland since the Hollow were determined to keep her from getting out, she commanded Haineko to call Kazeshini. She got nothing but static, and subsequent, increasingly frantic attempts yielded nothing but frustration. She switched to trying to contact Seireitei and this time got a garbled transmission of someone else's mayday. It took her a moment to realise that it was Hisagi, a moment more to realise that he was still in the districts looking for her. She was on her own then.

Well, if she was going to die, she was not going to do it running scared. She pulled out her plasma sword again, swung round to face her closest pursuer and let fly the fletchettes. The Hollow dodged most of them to grab Haineko about the waist and slam the zanpakuto into the dirt. If it had held her human body, Rangiku would have been killed on impact. Instead she swung her sword arm down and into the side of the creature. It screamed at the pain but refused to let go. It could smell her flesh inside her suit. It was not going to let her go.

The warning sounded a moment before the second Hollow hit, slamming into Haineko and the Hollow atop her with enough force to send them rolling over the sand. This prompted even more alarms to go off, the cacophony drowning out all sound and senses except for sight. Rangiku did not have to look at her vitals to see the figures surging off the charts. One Hollow was bad enough but two would be slaughter.

And then the second Hollow did something unusual. Instead of joining the first in tearing into Rangiku's suit, it tore into the other Hollow and ripped it right off of Haineko. Rangiku was left staring as the two Hollow began a grotesque, multi-limbed battle, grappling across the shifting dunes. In fact, she was so stunned that it took her a few minutes to realise that she was now free to run away.

The first Hollow had torn off chunks of Haineko but the zanpakuto's life support system and engines were still running. There was a fuel leak but it was estimated that she could just make it to the Seventieth District again if she was careful. The best part was that Rangiku herself was unhurt. She could just make it home. The other two Hollow had vanished in a cloud of dust. Rangiku got Haineko to its feet and then prepared to launch for the sky.

She did not get the warning about the third Hollow until it had already grabbed Haineko by the foot and slammed the zanpakuto into the ground again. The next thing she knew was when the radio woke her. How she had survived, she had no idea, though she supposed that the strange second Hollow had something to do with it. Her sensors were not picking up any trace of it or any others for miles around, though it did note the presence of Shinsou's wreckage. Still, rescue was approaching and Rangiku had no means to do anything but wait. She closed her eyes and let the darkness swallow her.

 **ooo**

Once, after the raid but before Rangiku was old enough to get into the academy, she had sat with Gin on a section of wall watching the zanpakuto launching from the Seireitei's belly on the hunt for Hollows. In school they spoke of the shinigami who flew them, living gods all. If not for the shinigami, they would not be able to live on this world. If not for the reishi, the fuel of their lives, they would not be able to fund the development of their means of eventual escape to the moons and other planets of their solar system. Despite their name, the shinigami represented life and hope.

Gin cursed them, accused them of being monsters who would eat Rangiku up, leaving nothing behind, not even her soul. The shinigami did not care about the people in Rukongai. How careful were any of them to avoid civilian casualties when there were Hollows on the loose? How motivated was their government to help the people escape when they had already built stations off-world and peopled them with the families of the wealthy and the shinigami of Seireitei? No, the only ones who cared about Rukongai were the people trapped in it. Gin had been so effective in turning Rangiku's mind against these "death gods" that she was completely blindsided the day he turned up in their cadet uniform spouting things about "civic duty" and "protecting those who could not help themselves".

She supposed that he felt that it would convince her that this was not a complete about face. It did not, but she did have someone to protect, him, so she followed the next year. But Gin was already gone, out with his own suit under the guidance of the kind but enigmatic Commander Aizen Sosuke. She was left to fend for herself and she managed quite well too, until she caught the eye of Commander Shiba Isshin and was handpicked for a position in his squad. It also helped that she melded to the suit like a fish to water and in no time at all had Haineko nipping at Engetsu's heels.

It was a hard life, what with the daily near-death experiences, the heart-breaking split-second decisions that sometimes meant choosing between what was right and what needed to be done, and of course, being nearly constantly on call, but friends, as her commander liked to say, made it just that less so. It helped considerably that she liked people, and people, particularly men, liked the look of her. Of course, she generally kept herself to herself, so to speak, and the happy, semi-drunken flirting at the bar never went anywhere. No, she reserved herself for those days when Commander Ichimaru, as he had so quickly become, showed up at the door with a smile and a bottle and very little else. He never gave her gifts, he never discussed his work and he almost never took her anywhere.

Byakuya took her off-world to the moon, Karakura that his sister was based on within a week of meeting her. Of course, it was a secret and nothing serious, so they submitted leave applications separately, for a family visit and shopping vacation respectively, and stayed in different places while they were there. But he took her shopping and sightseeing and introduced her to his sister.

It was kind of inevitable really, that she would fall in love with him.

They could not see each other every day, nor speak to each other without raising eyebrows, but sometimes she could meet him in the gym and sometimes in a theatre and then there was that one time they just ran into each other at a restaurant. Feeling daring, she had once invited him to her room for dinner and he had showed up, two hours late and exhausted, but he sat up and ate with her and then promptly fell asleep on her couch. It was disappointing and frustrating but then kind of cute to watch him sleep.

Then he showed up the next week though since she had not been expecting it she had not cooked. Not that he cared and it was kind of fun getting the take-out in nothing but her robe. They had made love for the first time that night, in her tiny shower so that it was uncomfortable and funny and though it was a bit soon, Rangiku thought that she just might be able to love this man.

He held back nothing when they were alone; she could clearly see on his face everything that he could not say when they were out at work. He thought she was beautiful and clever and funny and kind and even though one could hardly call her delicate, he wanted to protect her, to protect _them_. It was something she had only seen on Gin's face once or twice, though he had still tried to hide it, to cover it behind that enigmatic smile and shut eyes. And he had had such beautiful eyes.

Of course they could not manage to keep it a total secret. She told Nanao and he told Rukia but that was to be the end of it. Then his Lieutenant Commander caught them out one day in the Second District, hiding in plain sight at a water park. It was silly, her fault, she had wanted to spend the day with him like a normal couple and then looked what happened. But Abarai agreed to keep it quiet and for a time even covered for them. It was just too bad that the Royal had not given up on her.

Nearly a year after their first meeting, he approached her again while she was out shopping. The morning sickness had not yet set in, that would come later. The Royal had simply sauntered in and grabbed her butt. She yelped and turned around already swinging her leg for a kick that would connect before she could recognise him. He went down like a stone and she fell into a bow, horrified.

"No need to be like that, Lieutenant Commander…Rangiku, is it? I deserved that actually, one should not go around assaulting the bottoms of pretty girls…though you know what would make it better, if you let me take you to lunch. I insist, hardly a punishment, isn't it?" he said, all of this while sitting on the floor clutching his jaw.

There was no Byakuya to save her. He was off at his Division saving the world. She kept her head down and replied, "I don't think I could, Your Highness. I mean, this one…well, I have to be back at work in half an hour."

The Royal got to his feet and helped her to hers, saying, "No, no, I'm sure it will be fine. Your commander, Hitsugaya Toshiro, he has Hyourinmaru right? Most powerful suit ever made, I'm sure he's got it under control."

That was not the problem. Rangiku replied, "Yes, of course, I'm sure he will understand."

It took her three hours to get rid of him. Three hours in which she had taken multiple trips to the bathroom, had made panicked calls to Hitsugaya to get her out, had messaged Nanao to fake an injury, and when that failed, called Rukia. That last one did the trick, for no more than half an hour later, Byakuya came bursting into the room.

The prince's detail had tried to stop him, but Kuchiki Byakuya was not to be denied by anyone. He pushed past them and then came to an abrupt, awkward halt, hands out slightly at his sides as if about to reach for a weapon that was not there. The prince's mouth fell open and his eyes threatened to pop out of his head. Rangiku stood up at once to go to Byakuya but then stopped, remembering herself and looked back to the prince.

He was looking at her, then to Byakuya and back to her again and then asked, "Lord Kuchiki…what brings you here?"

Byakuya straightened, relaxed and replied in a calm, almost bored tone, "Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto did not report into work and there were concerns."

"Concerns?" asked the prince, lifting an eyebrow.

Rangiku swallowed a gulp of air and Byakuya said, "Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto was part of the team that escorted you last year…there were concerns that someone may have gone after her to get to you. It is understood that you have…an interest in the Lieutenant Commander."

The prince's eyebrow descended and he sat back, but his gaze was cold, calculating as he continued to look between the two. He asked, "Is that so?"

Byakuya replied, "Yes. It is imperative that the Lieutenant Commander return to base now. She must report in with her commander on the state of affairs."

"Could she not make the report to you?" asked the prince. It was a reasonable question.

Byakuya looked him directly in the eyes and replied, "I am not the Lieutenant Commander's superior. She must report to him in person or be declared AWOL."

"And what if I say she was with me?" asked the prince.

"It does not matter. She did not make a formal request for leave and the General will not accept it," said Byakuya.

The prince looked away from Byakuya to Rangiku, who smiled gently, apologetically, cheeks pink, eyes averted and said, "General Yamamoto…is very strict."

The prince said nothing for a time after this. Rangiku could feel beads of sweat forming along her forehead, her heart racing wildly in her chest. She could not take more of this. Then finally he said, "I apologise, my lady Lieutenant Commander…please, send General Yamamoto my regards."

Rangiku gave him a wider smile, a quick curtsy and practically ran out of the room.

The next day Byakuya was summoned to his family estate and informed in no uncertain terms that he was not to see Rangiku again. He might be the head of the clan and a commander of considerable renown, but their family depended on the Royal Favour as much as any other clan for success. The prince had made it absolutely clear.

Rangiku read the whole story in his eyes from the moment she opened her door. She had already seen it the night before in the prince's when he had let her go. There was no way in hell she was going to become the prince's mistress but she was not going to let him destroy Byakuya's family. She turned her back on Byakuya and refused to let him in. She ignored his calls, deleted his messages and pretended that he did not exist.

Two weeks later she started throwing up. Two weeks after that she confirmed what she had already guessed.

She had never imagined herself as a mother. She could not remember her own and had no idea how she would begin to be one. The correct thing to do then was to get rid of it, quickly, quietly and move on with her life. But…it was Byakuya's baby, hers and his and if she did…after what she had been through, after what he had been through, surely some deity she did not believe in would be offended. She could not, even if she was going to be kicked back into the Rukongai once they found out…she could not.

 **ooo**

"What'cha doing here, Ran-chan?" asked Gin.

Rangiku opened her eyes and then quickly shut them again, harsh bright light searing her eyeballs. "Ya need to get you and that brat out of here. Pronto!"

" _Warning: approaching unidentified craft. Warning: approaching unidentified craft._ " The alert was playing on a loop in the background and the moment Rangiku noticed it, a screen opened up before her to reveal that there was, in fact, a large unidentified craft approaching. It was civilian though, nobility, the insignia of the Kuchiki clan gleaming along the sides. So he had sent his family to get her. But what could he be thinking? A civilian craft? Out here?

Crackling, static and then a voice over her comm., _"Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto, are you there? Can you respond?"_

Rangiku squeezed her eyes shut at the sound, it made her head hurt, but said, "I…I'm here."

A pause, more static and then, _"Lieutenant Commander, my name is Seichi, I am Commander Kuchiki's personal steward. The commander has informed me of your condition. I hope to have you out of here as soon as possible. Can I access your zanpakuto's life support system?"_

He already had, or someone anyway, because a smaller screen popped up showing her status. She had broken her leg, cracked a rib, but there were two heartbeats, one a little faster than the other and going strong. She said, "Yes."

Again with the static, and then Seichi said, _"We have a medical team fully prepped and waiting for you on board. I'll be with you in a minute."_ Then the line went silent.

Rangiku stared at the smaller screen as if mesmerized. For a moment, with the pain from her ribs she had feared that she had lost the child. Clearly it was made of stronger stuff. And then the line crackled to life again and a very familiar voice said, _"Rangiku."_

She started, despite herself and stammered out, "B-Byakuya?"

Static, and then, _"Seichi informs me that you are well but Haineko is destroyed."_

Rangiku guessed as much. She replied, "Thank goodness for these escape pods, huh?"

There was no trace of amusement in his voice when he said, _"And that you are quite lucky."_

There was an argument coming, she was sure of it, but she would be damned if she was going to have it here. Where was here anyway? Oh, right, Shinsou.

"I am in Hueco Mundo," she said.

" _We know,"_ said Byakuya. _"I imagine that the Twelfth are updating their records as we speak. It is not teleportation, not exactly, but a nasty surprise nevertheless. The reishi appears to be changing the Hollow much in the same way that it is rumoured to be changing humans."_

"Yes, well, glad to be of service," said Rangiku, smiling. She honestly did not care at the moment, too happy to hear his voice.

" _Rangiku,"_ said Byakuya.

"Yes?" asked Rangiku, after more than a minute passed and he had not said another word.

He replied, _"I will be waiting for you at the station."_

Rangiku thought back to how weak he had sounded earlier, the loss of his team and said, "I'm looking forward to it."

The line went to static again and then Seichi returned, saying, " _Lieutenant Commander, I'm going to walk you through what we're going to do now…"_

It was time to go. Rangiku turned her attention to the steward.

True to his word, Byakuya was the first person Rangiku saw when the Kuchiki ship landed at Seireitei. He had bandages around his head, chest and one arm, but he ignored her very real distress at the sight of his wheelchair to roll closer to her gurney and seize her hand. He looked as if he wanted to do more, Rangiku certainly did, but their conditions and the many witnesses prevented it. That was fine by Rangiku, whose heart had started racing at the sight of him, their child fluttering wildly. There was another promise in Byakuya's eyes, even though he said nothing and Rangiku pretended not to see it. Their lives were going to take another course.

Commander Unohana interrupted their happy reunion then when she appeared, barking orders at trailing attendants to get Rangiku to the infirmary. Byakuya ignored the arrival though, his gaze shifting to Rangiku's stomach. His expression changed only slightly to that of apprehension. Rangiku smiled at him. He was not afraid that she had lost the baby; he knew that it was fine.

" Commander Kuchiki, I'm going to have to take Lieutenant Commander Matsumoto to the infirmary now," said Unohana.

"Yes," said Byakuya, though he did not look away from Rangiku or release her hand.

Rangiku squeezed his fingers until she got his attention and said, "I kind of need to go with her, but I'm not going anywhere, I swear."

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded and said, "I will be waiting for you here."

She smiled at him and said, "Thank you."

Unohana gave the order for the attendants to take Rangiku away but Byakuya did not release her hand or her gaze until the doors shut between them. Rangiku had turned her head to look at him and when she turned back, it was to find Unohana smiling at her. Rangiku's cheeks warmed with a hot blush and Unohana said, "You do realise that you've just taken the Seireitei's most eligible bachelor off the market, right?"

Rangiku smiled at her and let hand caress her stomach where their child grew and said, "Yes."

Then Unohana said, "Good, and I'll see what I can do about giving you two, well _three_ , a moment before Commander General Yamamoto's debriefing."

Rangiku was abruptly jerked out of her daze and groaned. For a moment she had actually forgotten all about it. There was still work to be done. The life of a shinigami did not end until they died. Even this baby was not going to put Rangiku out of commission for long. Once it was born and Haineko repaired, Rangiku was going to be out scouring the Rukongai for Hollows and protecting the people below. Gin had not entirely been lying when he spoke of them having a civic duty.

Then the baby fluttered in her belly and she could not help the smile that spread on her face. Who knows, marrying Kuchiki Byakuya might even lead to some meaningful changes for the people who literally lived under Seireitei's belly. This last fight, with those strange Hollows was the last straw. If the reishi was changing the Hollows then something had to be done for the people in their path. This child certainly was not going to grow up in a world where no one cared, not as long as Rangiku had breath in her lungs and Byakuya was at her side.

She settled back onto the gurney and said, "Bring it."

 **0o0**

 _It matters not how strait the gate,_

 _How charged with punishments the scroll,_

 _I am the master of my fate:_

 _I am the captain of my soul._

 _ **P.S. No more baby stories, I swear. Gosh, I'm overdoing them aren't I?**_


End file.
